Monday, September 19, 2011

E-Verify And The Divisions Among Patriots

The E-Verify legislation by Lamar Smith has stirred up controversy among patriots dealing with the immigration issue. On one side are those who think that this legislation, though not perfect, is a dagger at the heart of the Chipoltes and Jack Helsells of this world, those rootless cosmopolitan capitalists who grind the worker into the dust, exploiting the labor of illegal aliens for profit. Their business model is based on compliant illegal alien labor. Whether it is Chipotle driving workers whom they know are illegal or Helsell enjoying the fruits of missing digits, or employers who are worse, their only morality is the bottom line. Nothing stops them from their quest to gain the smallest advantage exploiting a compliant and nearly limitless workforce.

Phase in E-Verify over three years, starting with the largest companies first.

Require the Social Security Administration (SSA) to target illegal aliens using fake social security numbers by sending out “no match” letters to employers if the name and social security number of a current employee do not match. Requires the employer to check those employees through E-Verify after receiving a “no match” letter.

Require SSA to send a yearly notification to each owner of a social security number that has multiple employers reporting income to that number indicating that the number may have been stolen and is being used by illegal aliens. Requires employers to run through E-Verify those employees who are likely to have stolen the number from the legitimate owner.

Establish a phone verification system as an alternative to using the electronic system.

Require the use of E-Verify for those contracted at day labor sites and other referral or recruitment services.

Protect employers who use the system in good faith from liability if the system makes an error on eligibility.

Protect states’ and localities’ authority to revoke business licenses of employers who fail to use E-Verify as required by this Act.

Significantly increases the penalties for employers who refuse to use the system, or who intentionally try to game it. The fines levied can be up to $25,000 per unauthorized worker and a minimum one-year prison sentence may be imposed on an employer who engages in a “pattern or practice” of violations.

Require SSA to lock the use of social security numbers when it is being used by someone other than the rightful owner, when the owner has violated immigration laws and been ordered to leave the country, or when the owner’s temporary visa has expired.

Then there are the cynics, or realists. They have seen the Obama Regime Administrative Amnesty, discovered and identified by this blog, and reach the logical conclusion. The Obama Regime is outside both the law and Constitution, and any effort to reign him in is doomed to failure. The unassailable logic is that impeachment is the only answer. With the editorial assistance of Peter Brimelow himself, that is the inevitable conclusion given the facts of the situation. Reason, like the moon, is a harsh mistress. You don't always get what you want. They are the absolutists, two steps forward and none back. [Note: I never really understood Lenin's dictum on the issue. Why one step forward and two back? Better two forward and one back. Appear moderate and compromising. The fallacy of moderation appeals to the moderates who as Rush has pointed out know nothing about anything, except appearing nice.]

The VDare position is that the Regime is lawless and will ignore any mandate from Congress. It has nothing but contempt for Congress, the law, and the Constitution. Quod erat demonstrandum, all else that follows is pointless. Impeachment is the only answer. The logic is impeccable.

I was wondering what to make of Immigration Patriots Divided Over Lamar Smith E-Verify Bill which Washington Watcher published here on Monday, when a friend told me of a powerful denunciation of the bill by Congressman Lou Barletta in a radio interview with Lou Dobbs. It is on the Dobbs site behind a subscription barrier. But I discovered Barletta gave a conclusive interview on the subject to his local newspaper on Tuesday: Barletta knocks immigrant status bill Jonathan Riskind The Times Leader June 21

...the proposal could negate state and local powers, even as the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding an Arizona law penalizing employers for knowingly hiring illegal immigrants could lead to a similar Hazleton ordinance being allowed to go into effect, Barletta says... The federal government won’t do a good job enforcing a mandatory nationwide E-Verify system, while Smith’s bill pre-empts the ability of states and cities like Hazleton to enforce their own regulations, Barletta said.

It certainly will not enforce effectively, under Obama!

“The reason we got in this mess with illegal immigration is because the federal government didn’t enforce the laws we already had,” Barletta said in a phone interview Monday…. Barletta charged that pro-immigration rights groups “want to take away tough state and local laws” and that many business groups want to shield employers from facing tough sanctions if they hire illegal immigrants.

(VDARE.com emphasis) In other words, this bill could be a surreptitious Slave Power protection measure. It boils down to whom does one trust, Lou Barletta, than whom no more proven champion of effective enforcement exits, or Lamar Smith?

Yet, there is a flaw. The few States that have implemented E-Verify are import for the principle that States may implement E-Verify and enforce it thanks to a recent Supreme Court decision, but they are of insignificance compared to what Federal legislation can give us. Now 3% of employers use E-Verify. Smith's legislation will expand that to an eventual 100%.

But then we have the problem with the lawless Regime. They just will not enforce laws on the books now, what will force them to enforce this new Act of Congress. The Regime has nothing but contempt for such Acts, and the Republicans are doing nothing about it. Therefore emphasis should be on impeachment, not legislation.

Of course the problem with impeachment is that the Demoncrats in the Senate, much less the RINOs there, will not vote for impeachment. Similarly, the same Demoncrats will not allow E-Verify through the Senate. Even if the Chamber of Commerce wants it, radicals like Dick Durban and Dianne Feinstein, among others, will filibuster, or Harry Reid's quiet machinations will kill it.

Stalemate upon stalemate. Either way, there is nothing. What is a patriot to do. Well, one argument is that E-Verify is self-enforcing. Liability will attach to employers who refuse to use it even if the Regime will not take affirmative action to require it. Note this is similar to the current E-Verify requirement for Federal contractors to use it. The enforcement function is throughout the government, not just one agency is enforcing it. All Contracting Officers in the Federal government see that all contracts have that provision. And those contractors are liable under those rules, and to private enforcement under qui tam lawsuits from the public. In the case of E-Verify for non-Federal contractors, the potential liability to large corporations through shareholder lawsuits or, more importantly, to any future enforcement, would keep most employers in line. They don't have a safe haven from liability even with the Obama Regime Amnesty, their crime today may be punished tomorrow. And they would have to be public about their non-compliance. Very few employers would risk this. Remember, even the Obama Regime is doing some enforcement, as in their audit rather than arrest policy in regards to workplace compliance. Chipotle is benefiting from no raids, but they still have to fire a lot of their workforce. Undoubtedly the Obama Regime will continue in a similar manner, but E-Verify is a monkey wrench in the Administrative Amnesty.

In one glance at our easy, colorful enforcement comparison Grid, you can see how the climate for illegal aliens in your state would get really tough if Congress passes U.S. House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith's H.R. 2885 (the Legal Workforce Act).

Take a look at the Grid below and see the 30 ways that H.R. 2885 would ensure that only legal workers get payroll jobs.

After you look at the Grid, I think you will understand why I say that, in the history of the United States, there never has been a piece of legislation going through committee that would do so much to turn off the jobs magnet for illegal immigration and protect jobs for American workers.

We are preparing a Grid like this for every state and will soon post a prominent link on the Home page. For this blog, however, I am showing you the comparison of enforcement under H.R. 2885 (the right column) with the current laws for Illinois (the center column).

The color RED shows where there is little or no enforcement in a category. The color GREEN shows where the law provides for the enforcement. (A more detailed explanation of colors is at the bottom of the Grid.)

As the people of Illinois know, immigration enforcement may never occur in their state without federal intervention. The majority of you live in states like this where politicians show no signs of ever stopping illegal aliens from taking jobs, benefits or residence. Only a federal law like H.R. 2885 -- that is moving through the House Judiciary Committee right now -- provides any hope for these states.

And I am in favor of monkey wrenches. Even if they might not be nuclear option monkey wrenches. Every little bit helps...or hurts as the case may be. In the end, the Regime must be taken down, either by impeachment or the next election. There, my dear readers, is the denouement. We will catch the conscience of the king, or in our case, the people. For in the end if we don't replace the Regime with one subservient to the Constitution (do you hear me Rick Perry), the end is nigh.